ABSTRACT
Following consultation with her general practitioner for sleep disturbance and a sense of pervasive anxiety, Joan was referred for clinical assessment with a view to ‘stress management training’. At assessment Joan described that she had difficulty relaxing and constantly had something to worry about. She described her recent worries as overwhelming. She was presently concerned about physical symptoms, in particular tingling sensations in her right hand and in her face. Although this was the main worry, she described currently worrying about not being in a relationship, worrying that she was not being supportive enough to her friends and worrying that she could not cope with the stress of work. She reported a diffuse and inconsistent set of somatic symptoms, including muscle tension, aches and pains in her limbs and symptoms of difficulty concentrating, and she described a general feeling of irritability and feeling on edge. Joan traced the onset of the problem back to leaving college nine years ago, and was concerned that her lifestyle at that time may have contributed to her problem. Although she described that she had always had an active mind, her worries had become overwhelming over the past few years. There was no evidence of substance-/alcohol-related problems at the present time.
